On September 4, the 179th Training Center of the signal troops military institute in Poltava, Ukraine, or Poltava Institute of Military Communications, was struck by what was initially reported to be at least two Kinzhal missiles. Due to the speed of the hypersonic missiles, the air-raid sirens sounded only moments before they struck. Official Ukrainian claims are that 49 troops were killed and 219 wounded. Blog and other sources, including some “on the ground,” report up to 600 killed.
Among those killed were an undisclosed number of Swedish military advisors and trainers. They were stationed at the Institute to train Ukrainian forces on the use of the Swedish Saab ASC 890 AWACS plane, another weapon touted as a “game-changer” in Ukraine’s war against Russia, that Sweden had planned to donate to Ukraine. AWACS would have allowed the detection of Russian planes and missiles and coordinated counterattacks by Ukraine Air Force (F-16s?) and air defenses many miles from the front lines.
The Swedish AWACS experts are rumored to be irreplaceable.
